Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 3 May 2023
380. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for Health if he will confirm when funding will be made available for a five-storey extension to Cork University Hospital to facilitate additional dedicated paediatric facilities, given that planning permission has already been received for the project; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20220/23]
View answer381. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for Health if he will confirm that when the new five-storey extension to Cork University Hospital to facilitate additional dedicated paediatric facilities is constructed, it will include an intensive care unit that can take care of very seriously ill children who can be cared for in a timely manner without having to be transported at a crucial time; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20221/23]
View answer382. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for Health if he will confirm when the project for a five-storey extension to Cork University Hospital to facilitate additional dedicated paediatric facilities can proceed to the next stage, given that planning permission has already been received for the project; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20222/23]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 380 to 382, inclusive, together.
The Paediatric Department in Cork University Hospital (CUH) provides a comprehensive service for children from general paediatric care up to and including High Dependency Unit requirements. A multi-phase programme of capital investment is underway in CUH to modernise paediatric facilities there.
Phase 1 of the new Paediatric Department at CUH has been delivered and operational since 2017, providing dedicated paediatric outpatient accommodation, including dedicated facilities for paediatric cystic fibrosis outpatients.
Phase 2 proposals will focus on paediatric in-patient accommodation ensuring children are provided with much needed appropriate, compliant accommodation. It is anticipated that this phase of the project will deliver 58 beds and 24 cots, and all associated accommodation.
Phase 3 proposals will focus on dedicated paediatric theatres and associated accommodation.
The HSE National Clinical Programme for Critical Care and National Clinical Programme for Paediatrics Model of Care for Paediatric Critical Care aims to set out what is required to establish safe, effective care for all critically ill children requiring paediatric critical care medicine in Ireland.
Paediatric Critical Care is provided in specialist Critical Care Units (CCUs) or Paediatric High Dependency Units (PHDUs) that have high levels of trained staff, monitoring capability and equipment in line with national and international standards. In line with this national model of care, it is envisaged that the new beds/cots in phase 2 of the CUH paediatric development will include 6 PHDU beds/cots. Paediatric CCUs are centralised in Crumlin and Temple Street at present under the model of care and these will move to the New Children’s Hospital which will house one large, state-of-the-art Paediatric CCU and will eventually be one of the largest in Europe, providing care to children all over Ireland.
In line with the requirements of the Public Spending Code (PSC), Strategic Assessment Reports for Phases 2 and 3 of CUH paediatric developments have been undertaken and are now complete. In parallel, planning permission was sought for the proposed refurbishment of the existing paediatric unit at CUH and, in August 2022, this was granted by Cork County Council.
In March 2023, the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan (NDP) Delivery and Reform informed Government of changes to the capital appraisal guidelines as part of package of significant actions aimed at enhancing delivery of the NDP. Among other things, this increased the thresholds for the classification of major projects at which full PSC scrutiny is required and reduced the number of steps for proposals to travel through before approval to proceed.
The Department of Health and the HSE are still reflecting on the how best to align the significant number of major capital proposals at various stages of development with the new, shortened PSC lifecycle. Under Circular 06/23, the requirement for a separate SAR to be prepared at the start of the PSC process has been removed and the SAR requirements are to be subsumed into a new SAR/Preliminary Business Case (PBC). The HSE are now progressing these for the proposed paediatric phases in CUH. The timeline for the completion of the SAR/PBC cannot yet be estimated as the PSC changes have only recently been announced.
Nevertheless, capital funding continues to be made available to support CUH paediatric proposals as they progress through the various design and approval stages.
As with any proposals of this scale, the final decision to proceed and therefore to estimate the timeline and cost cannot be made until the completion of the Final Business Case, completion of the tender process, and determination that the proposal remains affordable and continues to represent value for money.
